Communication device having a dual protocol wireless interface

Abstract

There is provided a communication device having a wireless interface (20) including a transceiver (28) and a controller (38) configured to use the transceiver when applying a first protocol, which is a Bluetooth BR/EDR protocol, and also when applying a second protocol, which is suitable for audio streaming, and to use the transceiver for a Bluetooth BR/EDR inquiry scan and/or page scan procedure for data packets sent by an external device (40), wherein the scan procedure comprises a set of N scan segments during which the transceiver is used for inquiry/page scanning, each scan segment having a start time and a frequency, wherein each scan segment is executed during idle times of the second protocol; wherein the duration of each scan segment is at least 1,0055 ms and less than 10.625 ms; wherein the set of scan segments comprises at least two different frequencies and wherein the frequency changes more often than every 1.28 sec.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A hearing device, the hearing device comprising:
 a wireless interface comprising a controller and a transceiver; 
 the controller configured to: 
 control the transceiver to implement a first protocol and a second protocol,
 wherein the second protocol is suitable for audio streaming, control the transceiver to implement a scan procedure for data packets received from 
 an external device, 
 wherein the scan procedure comprises monitoring a set of N scan segments during which the transceiver is used for inquiry or page scanning, 
 wherein each scan segment of the set of N scan segments has a start time and a frequency, and 
 wherein a duration of each scan segment is at least 1.0055 milliseconds (ms) and less than 10.625 ms, 
 wherein the controller is configured to apply an iterative process for selecting the set of N scan segments; and 
 
 the transceiver is configured to:
 execute each scan segment during idle times of the second protocol, and 
 use at least two different frequencies for the set of N scan segments and wherein the transceiver is configured to change frequency used for the each scan segment at least every 1.28 seconds. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the iterative process comprises:
 adding a scan segment of the same frequency as the last previously added scan segment in case that the present set of scan segments is found to increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and 
 adding a scan segment of a new frequency different from the frequencies of all previous scan segments in case that the present set of scan segments is found to not increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and removing the last previously added scan segment from the present set of scan segments. 
 
     
     
       3. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the index of the new frequency differs from the index of the last preceding frequency by 1. 
     
     
       4. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein all scan segments have the same duration. 
     
     
       5. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the duration of each scan segment is less than 1.25 ms. 
     
     
       6. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein each scan segment is followed by a scan pause so as to form a scan segment period which has the same duration for all scan segments. 
     
     
       7. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the scan segments are grouped into np frequency groups of nsp scan segments having the same frequency, wherein nsp is 10 ms divided by the greatest common divisor of 10 ms and the scan segment period, wherein np is 16 divided by the product of nsp and a minimum frequency difference kmin between the frequency groups, and wherein
   Δ k   min =max(└( T   w_segm +312.5 μs−68 μs)/1250 μs┘,
 
   2·└( T   w_segm −68 μs)/1250 μs┘).
 
 
     
     
       8. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the second protocol uses a frame period of not more than 10 ms. 
     
     
       9. The hearing device of  claim 1 , wherein the second protocol uses a frame period which is a multiple of 1.25 ms. 
     
     
       10. A method for implementing first and second wireless communication protocols for a hearing device, the method comprising:
 scanning for data packets received from an external device during ideal times of the second wireless communication protocol,
 wherein the scanning comprises a set of N scan segments for inquiry or page scanning, 
 wherein each scan segment of the set of N scan segments has a start time and a frequency, 
 wherein the scanning further comprises applying an iterative process for selecting the set of N scan segments, 
 wherein a duration of each scan segment of the set of N scan segments is at least 1.0055 milliseconds (ms) and less than 10.625 ms, 
 wherein a time interval between each of the N scan segments is a multiple of 2.5 ms, 
 wherein the second wireless communication protocol is for audio streaming; and 
 
 changing a frequency used for each scan segment at least every 1.28 seconds. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , the method further comprising:
 adding a scan segment of the same frequency as the last previously added scan segment in case that the present set of scan segments is found to increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and 
 adding a scan segment of a new frequency different from the frequencies of all previous scan segments in case that the present set of scan segments is found to not increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and removing the last previously added scan segment from the present set of scan segments. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the index of the new frequency differs from the index of the last preceding frequency by 1. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 10 , wherein all scan segments have the same duration. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the duration of each scan segment is less than 1.25 ms. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by a processor cause a device to perform operations for communicating a first and second wireless communication protocol, the operations comprising:
 scanning for data packets received from an external device during ideal times of the second wireless communication protocol,
 wherein the scanning comprises a set of N scan segments for inquiry or page scanning, 
 wherein each scan segment of the set of N scan segments has a start time and a frequency, 
 wherein the scanning further comprises applying an iterative process for selecting the set of N scan segments, 
 wherein a duration of each scan segment of the set of N scan segments is at least 1.0055 milliseconds (ms) and less than 10.625 ms, 
 wherein a time interval between each of the N scan segments is a multiple of 2.5 ms, 
 wherein the second wireless communication protocol is for audio streaming; and 
 
 changing a frequency used for each scan segment at least every 1.28 seconds. 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the operations further comprising:
 adding a scan segment of the same frequency as the last previously added scan segment in case that the present set of scan segments is found to increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and 
 adding a scan segment of a new frequency different from the frequencies of all previous scan segments in case that the present set of scan segments is found to not increase the number of combinations of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be met, while there is at least one combination of time offset and frequency offset for which the overlap condition is found to be not met, and removing the last previously added scan segment from the present set of scan segments. 
 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the index of the new frequency differs from the index of the last preceding frequency by 1. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein all scan segments have the same duration. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the duration of each scan segment is less than 1.25 ms.